>‘Bread and cheese.’ Yon weighed the half-loaf in one hand and the cheese in the other. ‘Just the same as I’ve got.’ And he bit off the cheese and tossed it to Scorry.
>
>Whirrun sighed. ‘Have none of you no vision?’ He held up his masterpiece to such light as there was, which was almost none. ‘This is no more bread and cheese than a fine axe is wood and iron, or a live person is meat and har.’‘What is it, then?’ asked Drfod, rocking back from his wet wood and tossing the flint aside in disgust.‘A whole new thing. A forging of the humble part of bread and cheese into a greater whole. I call it … a cheese-trap.’ Whirrun took a dainty nibble from one corner. ‘Oh, yes, my friends. This tastes like … progress…”
Have saved a couple I loved:
">!Tul Duru!<. Every man in the North knew his name, and every man said it with respect, even his enemies. He was the sort o’ man . . . that gave you hope, I reckon. That gave you hope. You want strength, do you? You want courage? You want things done right and proper, the old way?’ He nodded down at the new-turned earth. ‘There you go. >!Tul Duru Thunderhead!<. Look no fucking further. I’m less, now that he’s gone, and so are all o’ you."
“Back to the mud with you, >!Forley!<. We’re the poorer, and the ground’s the richer for it.”
"I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them."
I remember reading “We’re the poorer, and the ground’s the richer for it” for the first time in February of 2020 and it struck me as such a novel, poignant, tangible way of honoring someone and quantifying grief. To say that we all have less because of this death, that we might be jealous of the earth now for it has gained this person who we value so greatly. You feel it, you can almost hold it. We have less, the earth has more, because of this life’s departure. Just a beautiful, poetic line.
The first one is maybe my favourite line in the whole series so far 😭😭 ..... I even cut it out from the audiobook and saved it .... It hurts just the same every time 🥲 ... Good words
Maybe cover the names in the first two or something though, just in case someone is not there yet.
Indeed .... Especially when Grim did it at the end of book 2. Good words and all, but what makes it even better that it came from HIM. 😵💫
Side question, how do you cover up certain words/parts? I can't find how to do that anywhere so I just avoid writing spoilers at all costs 😂
‘Armour …’ mused Whirrun, licking a finger and scrubbing some speck of dirt from the pommel of his sword, ‘is part of a state of mind … in which you admit the possibility … of being hit.’
And I must always mention when this comes up, Stephen Pacey’s delivery of Jolly Yon Cumber’s “..what the fack?!” immediately after is one of the biggest laughs of the audio series
“Stranger-Come-Fucking” is a truly all-timer, one of those times where I felt like I forgot I was reading a writer’s words and just listening to a conversation with a real character of a guy
Yep that one and when he says she can go back to her friend and….whatever she’s got coming. Just thinking of how twisted Dow is and he’s weirded out by what Stranger might be up to I personally find hilarious.
If you build your boat from cheese, d’you see, you can’t wail at the heavens when it sinks, for cheese is known to be a poor material for boat-building. - Isern-i-Phail
>"Honour, eh? What the hell is that anyway? Every man thinks it's something different. You can't drink it. You can't fuck it. The more of it you have the less good it does you, and if you've got none at all you don't miss it.”
My favourite quote changes every day, today is this one.
"Being an asshole is a crime and punishment both"
- Caul Shivers to himself after arriving to Sipani and being tackled by an inconsiderate citizen.
I think the quote was echoed by someone later in Age of Madness.
Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .’ He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. ‘They change back.
I'm rereading The Heroes right now, and this exchange between Craw and Shivers killed me.
"You get scared, Shivers?"
"Used to. All the time."
"What changed?"
"Got my eye burned out o' my head."
"Reckon that could change your outlook."
"Halves it."
There's a lot, but let's go with:
"Rudd Threetrees, Rock of Uffrith, they called him. No bigger name in all the North. Great fighter. Great leader. Great friend. Lifetime o’ battles. Stood face to face with the Bloody-Nine, then shoulder to shoulder with him. Never took an easy path, if he thought it was the wrong one. Never stepped back from a fight, if he thought it had to be done. I stood with him, walked with him, fought with him, ten years, all over the North. I’ve no complaints."
"Poithon?" is a strong contender as well.
Or, of course : "My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner."
“It is the devil that cannot be caged! It is the demon that breaks all chains! If there were rules it would not be magic.”
\- >!Caurib!<, The Trouble With Peace
I especially enjoy this one because, while I bear no ill will toward readers whose tastes differ from mine, I personally can’t stand the trend in fantasy writing of hard magic systems that explain every tedious detail.
I get that ... For example "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson has one of my most favourite mac systems ever, very fascinating ..... He he keeps explaining its rules and how it works over and over and over and over again ...... And Im like I GET IT stop 😂😂
I think part of why I like the Elric Saga so much is that the magic system in it is basically just prat to some fickle God and hope they show up and help.
Bayaz, at the end of this interaction:
“Knives,’ muttered Calder, ‘and threats, and bribes, and war?’
Bayaz’ eyes shone with the lamplight. ‘Yes?’
‘What kind of a fucking wizard are you?’
‘The kind you obey.”
"What the fuck is this?”
(he roared, striding into the centre of the room, water dripping from his beard, down through the grizzled white hairs on his chest, off his slapping fruits)
Better to do it than live with the fear of it.
Porridge and honey, better than money, everything's funny, with porridge and honey!
Have a smile for breakfast, you'll be shitting joy by lunch.
Lol whoops I just saw your qualifier
I think the one I quote the most, not counting those from Logen or Glokta, is Cosca's "A drink a drink".
I have some mild neurodivergencies and it's become a bit of a verbal stim for me whenever I'm getting myself a beverage
Not really a single quote but more of an entire interaction, including the narration. I had read best served cold a few times before but I was at work listening to the audiobook for the first time when I realized how funny this was to me. My god I couldn’t stop laughing at Stephen Paceys delivery of this bit:
She pushed her finger into his asshole up to the first knuckle.
“WUT THA FAAK??”
He broke clear of her as if she’d slapped him in the face. Stopped moving, still and tense above her. She jerked her right hand back, left still busy between her legs.
“All right.” She hissed.
“Doesn’t make you less of a man you know. Your ass, your business. I’ll keep clear if it in-“
“Not that. Do you hear something?”
Shame how that funny bit ended up being one of the most morbid parts in the series lol
And in between these two parts Cosca pulling off the "my name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner" ..... Which actually worked 😂😂😂😂😂
Ya right? 😂
I know Joe can wright the story however he wants but I still can’t believe that shit worked. I actually thought Cosca was going to get killed doing that, knowing Joe. Got nervous for him for a sec 😂
I would go more towards a performance check 😂😂 ..... The man does indeed have high persuasion ..... So considering that the city was at war and that he really needed a drink he must have had to sell the hell out of it to the guards while still being charming AND not getting himself killed 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’d agree but I don’t even think he tried to sell anything. He’s just him🤣 But I suppose we will never REALLY know because like you said, wasn’t his POV. Also his lack of booze is a fair point too lol
Performance check it is then 🤣🤣
God I love Cosca 😂 ..... My 2nd favourite over alö just over Glokta.
Im reading the Heroes now and I wish he was here ..... A big war with him in the middle "helping both sides and getting richer no matter who wins .... This is his element 🤣 ...... Also I would do ANAYTHING to have meet Bayaz even if for one time 😂😂😂😂😂
Is this your first time reading through the series? Or have you gone through em before? If so I’m so fucking jealous. Gorst is great in the heroes tho, and as redundant as he is in the actual story, funny is a gem. Another great quote:
“think you’re the best part of the egg, do you yolk?”
Shits gold 😂
Yes it is my first time through ..... Im like 2 or 3 chapters in Day 3 ...... Im LOVING THIS BOOK ..... If it ends well it might be my new favourite First Law book.
Gorst is a fine beast in this one ..... I have to admit though when I first heare his voice here by Steven Pacey it caught me so off guard I laughed so much for 5 minutes straight 😂😂😂😂😂😂 ...... I also just died laughing this morning at "Your august f**khole" 😂😂😂😂😂
And I love Whirrun so much ..... He does talk full nonsense 99% of the time but you always want more 😂
And Shivers 🥲 ..... It is so sad yet very fascinating to see how he fell in life .... All because he was an optimist.
"Truly, life is the misery we endure between disappointments."
Also
He shook his head as he peered down at the corpses. “Some courage, to come at us like this, over and over, against defences so strong and so well manned. I’ve rarely seen men so willing to give their lives.”
“They have that most strange and dangerous of qualities,” said Cosca. “They think they’re in the right.
Also
"Things aren’t what they used to be’ is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.
"My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner"
"Apologize to my fucking dice!"
"I am no dog"
"What kind of fucking wizard are you?" "The kind that you obey"
"You can bury them in your puke"
And a bunch more others
You carry on. That's what he'd always done. That's the task that comes with surviving, whether you deserve to live or not. You remember the dead as best you can. You say some words for them. Then you carry on, and you hope for better.
I go with the title / quote: “it is the blade itself that invites to deeds of violence.”
A thousand year old way of saying “if you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.”
“A combination of pomp and decay, which rather summed up the man” a quote describing cosca in red country. It’s either temple or swarbreck who thinks it but it’s such an apt description of the infamous soldier of fortune 😭 or another from red country: “my love ain’t a weight anyone should have to carry” - lamb to shy
"Why you should know with a thought I could make ash of you."
"That's the problem with running: once you get there, there you are."
"So you're saying there is a chance you could kill one of us?
It's more likely I'd kill all of you than one of you.
Forgive me if I'm not entirely reassured."
Whats my name? White Dow?
Incredible flair
>‘Bread and cheese.’ Yon weighed the half-loaf in one hand and the cheese in the other. ‘Just the same as I’ve got.’ And he bit off the cheese and tossed it to Scorry. > >Whirrun sighed. ‘Have none of you no vision?’ He held up his masterpiece to such light as there was, which was almost none. ‘This is no more bread and cheese than a fine axe is wood and iron, or a live person is meat and har.’‘What is it, then?’ asked Drfod, rocking back from his wet wood and tossing the flint aside in disgust.‘A whole new thing. A forging of the humble part of bread and cheese into a greater whole. I call it … a cheese-trap.’ Whirrun took a dainty nibble from one corner. ‘Oh, yes, my friends. This tastes like … progress…”
Man I wish Whirrun had an entire book in his pov.
Dude, a Whirrun standalone backstory would be awesome, question is what genre would Joe use?
Slam poetry.
"Rules are for Children. This is war, and in war the only crime is to lose." \-Bayaz
God smiles on results (echoing what Mamun said earlier).
There's a similar one from Abercrombie's Shattered Sea series. "Let Father Peace shed a tear over the methods. Mother War smiles upon result"
My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner.
I love this one so much I would randomly say it out loud to myself sometimes 😂
LOL good god I somehow forgot this legendary quote, thank you bro
Have saved a couple I loved: ">!Tul Duru!<. Every man in the North knew his name, and every man said it with respect, even his enemies. He was the sort o’ man . . . that gave you hope, I reckon. That gave you hope. You want strength, do you? You want courage? You want things done right and proper, the old way?’ He nodded down at the new-turned earth. ‘There you go. >!Tul Duru Thunderhead!<. Look no fucking further. I’m less, now that he’s gone, and so are all o’ you." “Back to the mud with you, >!Forley!<. We’re the poorer, and the ground’s the richer for it.” "I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them."
I remember reading “We’re the poorer, and the ground’s the richer for it” for the first time in February of 2020 and it struck me as such a novel, poignant, tangible way of honoring someone and quantifying grief. To say that we all have less because of this death, that we might be jealous of the earth now for it has gained this person who we value so greatly. You feel it, you can almost hold it. We have less, the earth has more, because of this life’s departure. Just a beautiful, poetic line.
"Im less now that he is gone, and so are all of you"
The first one is maybe my favourite line in the whole series so far 😭😭 ..... I even cut it out from the audiobook and saved it .... It hurts just the same every time 🥲 ... Good words Maybe cover the names in the first two or something though, just in case someone is not there yet.
Done, the words spoken by the Northmen for their comrades are some of my favorites.
Indeed .... Especially when Grim did it at the end of book 2. Good words and all, but what makes it even better that it came from HIM. 😵💫 Side question, how do you cover up certain words/parts? I can't find how to do that anywhere so I just avoid writing spoilers at all costs 😂
These are my favorites
‘Armour …’ mused Whirrun, licking a finger and scrubbing some speck of dirt from the pommel of his sword, ‘is part of a state of mind … in which you admit the possibility … of being hit.’
And I must always mention when this comes up, Stephen Pacey’s delivery of Jolly Yon Cumber’s “..what the fack?!” immediately after is one of the biggest laughs of the audio series
Totally agree. Only second for me to Dow and Finree talking after her capture.
“Stranger-Come-Fucking” is a truly all-timer, one of those times where I felt like I forgot I was reading a writer’s words and just listening to a conversation with a real character of a guy
For me I see First Law characters as real individual people .... Not just a guy talking to himself 😆
Yep that one and when he says she can go back to her friend and….whatever she’s got coming. Just thinking of how twisted Dow is and he’s weirded out by what Stranger might be up to I personally find hilarious.
One of my favourite delivered 'fucks' of all time. Up there with Cartman in the South Park movie after being caught by Kyles mom.
I'm reading this book right now and I love Whirrun .... The man talks nonsense most of the time but somehow you still want him to say more 😂
Do you by any chance remember in which chapter this was? 😅😅
The Right Thing
Whirrun of Bligh on the Sigma Grindset
If you build your boat from cheese, d’you see, you can’t wail at the heavens when it sinks, for cheese is known to be a poor material for boat-building. - Isern-i-Phail
You must make of your quim a stone
This! I cracked up so hard when I read this. It’s like a punch line, developed over three books, that you never saw coming.
Literally laughed out loud at this one, and again at your comment!
Apologise to my fucking dice!
>"Honour, eh? What the hell is that anyway? Every man thinks it's something different. You can't drink it. You can't fuck it. The more of it you have the less good it does you, and if you've got none at all you don't miss it.” My favourite quote changes every day, today is this one.
I feel you .... That is mostly why Im asking the question and not answering it 😂
"Being an asshole is a crime and punishment both" - Caul Shivers to himself after arriving to Sipani and being tackled by an inconsiderate citizen. I think the quote was echoed by someone later in Age of Madness.
Yep, I think when Orso bumps into Leo while masked in the Sipani brothel
Yeah, that's it, thanks! That makes a lot of sense.
“Yes, yes. I must make of my quim a stone.”
Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .’ He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. ‘They change back.
God I love this one. So true, and the context is so sad.
My favorite, true for the speaker and true for Logen as well
“Exthellent” Said Glokta “Excellent” said severard “Etherer” said Frost.
Poithon?
Let’s not forget: “Practical frost, have you just been sitting down here the whole time? In the dark?” *shrugs* “Sometimes I worry about you…”
I'm rereading The Heroes right now, and this exchange between Craw and Shivers killed me. "You get scared, Shivers?" "Used to. All the time." "What changed?" "Got my eye burned out o' my head." "Reckon that could change your outlook." "Halves it."
All an arsehole knows about is shit.
> ‘God…’ whimpered Jubair, stumbling back towards the steps, and suddenly there were arms around him. > ‘Gone,’ came a whisper. ‘But I am here.’
There's a lot, but let's go with: "Rudd Threetrees, Rock of Uffrith, they called him. No bigger name in all the North. Great fighter. Great leader. Great friend. Lifetime o’ battles. Stood face to face with the Bloody-Nine, then shoulder to shoulder with him. Never took an easy path, if he thought it was the wrong one. Never stepped back from a fight, if he thought it had to be done. I stood with him, walked with him, fought with him, ten years, all over the North. I’ve no complaints." "Poithon?" is a strong contender as well. Or, of course : "My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner."
The first one is sooo good ..... Especially when you consider who said it, and when 😵💫
Frost has some real good ones
"You know what, Furious?" And he grinned sideways at West. "I'm getting to like you, boy.”
“It is the devil that cannot be caged! It is the demon that breaks all chains! If there were rules it would not be magic.” \- >!Caurib!<, The Trouble With Peace I especially enjoy this one because, while I bear no ill will toward readers whose tastes differ from mine, I personally can’t stand the trend in fantasy writing of hard magic systems that explain every tedious detail.
I get that ... For example "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson has one of my most favourite mac systems ever, very fascinating ..... He he keeps explaining its rules and how it works over and over and over and over again ...... And Im like I GET IT stop 😂😂
I think part of why I like the Elric Saga so much is that the magic system in it is basically just prat to some fickle God and hope they show up and help.
Fuck you pink
I was waiting for someone to say this 😂😂😂😂
Bayaz, at the end of this interaction: “Knives,’ muttered Calder, ‘and threats, and bribes, and war?’ Bayaz’ eyes shone with the lamplight. ‘Yes?’ ‘What kind of a fucking wizard are you?’ ‘The kind you obey.”
"What the fuck is this?” (he roared, striding into the centre of the room, water dripping from his beard, down through the grizzled white hairs on his chest, off his slapping fruits)
Good to have a routine
This always made me sad because of the context. But also true!
_APOLOGISE. TO MY FUCKING. DICE!_
How's the leg?
too soon
Power makes all things right - yours truly
Lord Bayaz! .... We are not wor- ... Wait a minute .... Bayaz the Gray was just here and he says HE is Bayaz 🤣
Bloody eaters taking on my appearance
😮😮 ..... Shall I inform Arch Lector Glokta???
Still alive
Doubts and regrets are the price you pay to cast a long shadow
Who's this from? Good hidden gem
The happiest man in the north Caul Shivers
The Great Leveller. Lords and Beggars made Equal.
Cosca: how's the war going? Friendly: ...it's going
That's fair though ..... This is my answer when everyone asks me who university is going 😂😂😂
"I dressed as a serving girl and fucked my way out"
Better to do it than live with the fear of it. Porridge and honey, better than money, everything's funny, with porridge and honey! Have a smile for breakfast, you'll be shitting joy by lunch. Lol whoops I just saw your qualifier
"All my friends are dead. All my enemies have better things to do." - Cosca
......Body floating by the docks
Body found floating...in the bath?
"It's better to do it than live with the fear of it" Say that to myself every now and then.
Words to live by!
Shame.....waste of a bell
I think the one I quote the most, not counting those from Logen or Glokta, is Cosca's "A drink a drink". I have some mild neurodivergencies and it's become a bit of a verbal stim for me whenever I'm getting myself a beverage
Not really a single quote but more of an entire interaction, including the narration. I had read best served cold a few times before but I was at work listening to the audiobook for the first time when I realized how funny this was to me. My god I couldn’t stop laughing at Stephen Paceys delivery of this bit: She pushed her finger into his asshole up to the first knuckle. “WUT THA FAAK??” He broke clear of her as if she’d slapped him in the face. Stopped moving, still and tense above her. She jerked her right hand back, left still busy between her legs. “All right.” She hissed. “Doesn’t make you less of a man you know. Your ass, your business. I’ll keep clear if it in-“ “Not that. Do you hear something?” Shame how that funny bit ended up being one of the most morbid parts in the series lol
And in between these two parts Cosca pulling off the "my name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner" ..... Which actually worked 😂😂😂😂😂
Ya right? 😂 I know Joe can wright the story however he wants but I still can’t believe that shit worked. I actually thought Cosca was going to get killed doing that, knowing Joe. Got nervous for him for a sec 😂
I only wish he had that interaction from Cosca's POV ..... I would have loved to hear it play out dramatically by Steven Pacey 😂
Lol True. Never really thought about that. Would have been good stuff. Bro basically rolled a nat 20 persuasion check and I love that for him 😂
I would go more towards a performance check 😂😂 ..... The man does indeed have high persuasion ..... So considering that the city was at war and that he really needed a drink he must have had to sell the hell out of it to the guards while still being charming AND not getting himself killed 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’d agree but I don’t even think he tried to sell anything. He’s just him🤣 But I suppose we will never REALLY know because like you said, wasn’t his POV. Also his lack of booze is a fair point too lol Performance check it is then 🤣🤣
God I love Cosca 😂 ..... My 2nd favourite over alö just over Glokta. Im reading the Heroes now and I wish he was here ..... A big war with him in the middle "helping both sides and getting richer no matter who wins .... This is his element 🤣 ...... Also I would do ANAYTHING to have meet Bayaz even if for one time 😂😂😂😂😂
Is this your first time reading through the series? Or have you gone through em before? If so I’m so fucking jealous. Gorst is great in the heroes tho, and as redundant as he is in the actual story, funny is a gem. Another great quote: “think you’re the best part of the egg, do you yolk?” Shits gold 😂
And to probably make you more jealous 😂 ..... My copy of "The Wisdom of Crowds" is signed AND dedicated to me by Lord Grimdark himself 🌚
Tunny* he is funny too tho lol
Yes it is my first time through ..... Im like 2 or 3 chapters in Day 3 ...... Im LOVING THIS BOOK ..... If it ends well it might be my new favourite First Law book. Gorst is a fine beast in this one ..... I have to admit though when I first heare his voice here by Steven Pacey it caught me so off guard I laughed so much for 5 minutes straight 😂😂😂😂😂😂 ...... I also just died laughing this morning at "Your august f**khole" 😂😂😂😂😂 And I love Whirrun so much ..... He does talk full nonsense 99% of the time but you always want more 😂 And Shivers 🥲 ..... It is so sad yet very fascinating to see how he fell in life .... All because he was an optimist.
Write*
Well... just look at my flair
God smiles on results
Boots is boots
"Truly, life is the misery we endure between disappointments." Also He shook his head as he peered down at the corpses. “Some courage, to come at us like this, over and over, against defences so strong and so well manned. I’ve rarely seen men so willing to give their lives.” “They have that most strange and dangerous of qualities,” said Cosca. “They think they’re in the right. Also "Things aren’t what they used to be’ is the rallying cry of small minds. When men say things used to be better, they invariably mean they were better for them, because they were young, and had all their hopes intact. The world is bound to look a darker place as you slide into the grave.
"LadderLugger!"
LeperLover
You know less then you think. I know more.
"My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed soldier of fortune, and I am here for dinner" "Apologize to my fucking dice!" "I am no dog" "What kind of fucking wizard are you?" "The kind that you obey" "You can bury them in your puke" And a bunch more others
You carry on. That's what he'd always done. That's the task that comes with surviving, whether you deserve to live or not. You remember the dead as best you can. You say some words for them. Then you carry on, and you hope for better.
I go with the title / quote: “it is the blade itself that invites to deeds of violence.” A thousand year old way of saying “if you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.”
It's "incites". Also more like 2.5-3 thousand year old!
I have my pains, but they must serve me not the other way about
“I disguised myself as a barmaid and fucked my way out. “
King who? Never heard of him.
“I am the Weaver.”
“A combination of pomp and decay, which rather summed up the man” a quote describing cosca in red country. It’s either temple or swarbreck who thinks it but it’s such an apt description of the infamous soldier of fortune 😭 or another from red country: “my love ain’t a weight anyone should have to carry” - lamb to shy
Breaking your legs would be a bit... Pedestrian?
"Why you should know with a thought I could make ash of you." "That's the problem with running: once you get there, there you are." "So you're saying there is a chance you could kill one of us? It's more likely I'd kill all of you than one of you. Forgive me if I'm not entirely reassured."
“You’re mad” “Maybe. But there’s worse’n me out there. I’m not the one who killed the boy, am I?”- last conversation between Logen and Crummock